I am an artist (painter) living and working in the foothills of Puerto Rico's El Yunque National Rainforest. My studio sits atop a little mountain that affords me a view of the entire northeast coast of the island from San Juan to Fajardo and beyond. I choose to believe that the energy from my creations wafts upon the breeze to parts unknown, igniting the creative spirit wherever it goes.
Whew! Time flies! I go up once a month, on the last weekend of the month, to the El Portal Visitors Center at the entrance to El Yunque's Caribbean National Forest. I set up an exhibit with 4 other artists as well as a work space to paint. It's just a glorious location to work! Beautiful environment, artists that are good friends and great company, and the opportunity to meet people from all over the world... what more can I ask for?
Anybody in Puerto Rico? Come join us! We're there starting tomorrow, Jan 27 through Sunday Jan 31st, 9 - 4:00 PM each day.
I spent the other day up at El Yunque's Caribbean National forest with my good friends Robert and Vicky Leedy and my new friends Mary and Lou Posner. Wandering the trails up there in the rain forest is an absolute feast for my eyes. Did I take pictures? Of course! A ton of them! But mostly I just absorbed.... the light, the textures, the colors.... knowing that no matter WHAT I paint, these things will surface. They live with me now in my soul.
Today just seems like a day for musings. It's still dark....I often get up before most of my neighbors' roosters! Seems appropropriate to watch the sunrise together with the hens from across the road. First the glow to the east over Fajardo and Vieques which will then become light on El Yunque and the rainforest just beyond my window. In these days of uncertainty, it is good to know that the sun always rises.
I was so excited to discover that my new website designed by Philippe-Laurent Pascal of Snowcrash Digital is now up and running! We were having domain transfer issues so it took a little while. I happened to click on a link to my site from the Puerto Rico Day Trips website and voila! Instead of my old site the new one is in place. Yay! We're still building it, with pages about my workshops and the family and corporate painting projects that I do, but for now you can see a broad selection of my work. Today my little mountain top, tomorrow the world! Visit please: monicalinville.com
As an artist who also teaches painting workshops and team building painting projectsat my studio in eastern Puerto Rico, I invited the owners of two area guest houses to come visit my studio and participate in one of the painting projects that I have tailored to families, couples and small groups coming to Puerto Rico. Not only are my projects unique ways to spend quality, creative time with loved ones, but they're wonderful activities for rainy days in the tropics or sunshiny days as well!
Ray and Gwenn came from their guest house, Coquis Hideaway and Wally and Marina came from their guest house Villa Sevilla. Both guest houses are an easy drive from my studio, and are also located up in the mountains of eastern Puerto Rico, not far from El Yunque and the Caribbean National Rainforest. They're guests are welcome at my studio to take classes, work together on group painting projects or simply enjoy the collection of original paintings and fine art prints that I have here for sale.
The picture you see here is one my friends created together from my "Be Me/Be We" project. I provide all of the materials (water media) and everyone just gets to play with paint. This activity is really just about releasing your creative spirit and doing so with family and loved ones. The result is always a fun, free, spontaneous abstract painting that I mat for you and you get to take home as a unique momento of your time spent here in the Caribbean.
I recently had the opportunity to work with a poet that I met in Second Life. A non-profit arts organization, DaVinci Isle, sponsored a poetry auction to raise money for the War Child Charity.(a charity devoted to providing aid to children conscripted to wars around the globe) People bid on the participating poets, meaning that if they won the bid, they would work with the poet who would then write a personal poem based on the thoughts and/or desires described to them by the winners. I offered to do a painting using the poem written by the poet who won with the highest bid. I in this case, the poet's Second Life name is Skylar Smythe. I won't take the liberty of publishing the poem here as it was based on the personal input given her by her winner and the poet's own personal insights. However, I will share the mixed water media painting that I created after reading the work. As an artist, I would never presume to interpret another artist's work; I would, however, show my reaction to the work with paint. The title of the piece is "The Escape"
Hearts and minds working together, worlds apart but brought together by art. Life is good.
I recently affiliated myself with the fine art website, Fine Art America, for the purpose of offering a LOT of my work as affordable, fine art giclee reproductions. It's a great website because you can choose from a current selection of almost 50 images and have them printed to a size and surface that makes you happy! They do it all and deliver it to your front door.... from my easel to your house! How cool is that???
The opportunity for collaboration with other artists in Second Life is immense! Today I'll be opening an exhibition of landscape paintings, in oil, along side a wonderful photoartist, Em Larsson. We find the contrast between my lush, intensely colored landscapes and her stark, dramatic shadows on snow photographs to be a wonderful demonstration of how opposites can exist side by side quite beautifully.
In addition to our visual art, two muscians who have come to SL from real life, have collaborated together to write and perform music for just this occasion. This exhibition has brought the energies together of artists from Puerto Rico (me), Canada (Em), and the United States. (Auto and Eio) Only good things can come from such things!
I got involved in Second Life after reading an article about an artist in the Boston area who used it as a marketing tool for his work. What I discovered was a world of opportunity for visual artists to share their art with the world. Unlike a website or blog, which are both great but static, this virtual world allows me to meet you, talk with you, personally take you to my galleries.... and allows you to get to know me and what I have been trying to accomplish through my painting.
It is at times hilarious, it is at times bizarre (EVERYTHING you see in SL is straight out of someone's imagination) but it is ALWAYS intriguing. Most importantly, it is the future.
I have 2 galleries (The Aries Gallery SG and The Aries Gallery STNY). I also exhibit my paintings at special exhibitions around the world. I will be teaching a real life painting workshop in February as well. All this to the global market from the comfort of my mountaintop studio. My work has always been about connections, so it only follows that the connections I am able to make through this virtual world is in complete keeping with my vision.
Here I sit on my little mountain top in the Caribbean with a whole new world opened before me. I have entered in to the virtual world of Second Life and having done so, allowed myself the opportunity to show my work and teach my work to a global market. My exhibitions and workshops are attended by people from around the globe! Does this blow me away? You betcha!!!!
It's an amazing adventure and I'll be using this blog to keep you posted on my activities. For those of you already wandering the worlds of Second Life (www.secondlife.com) my avatar's name is Littleone Aries. Look me up and come visit my 2 virtual galleries for an up close look at my paintings! I'll meet you there and we'll talk!
